1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic circuit element and, more particularly, to an electronic circuit element formed from layers of different segments deposited on a substrate by way of a shadow mask deposition process.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic circuits with repetitive patterns, such as memories and imaging or display devices are, widely used in LED industry. Presently, such circuits are formed by photolithographic processes.
A shadow mask deposition process is well-known and has been used for years in micro-electronics manufacturing. The shadow mask process is a significantly less costly and less complex manufacturing process compared to the photolithography process. Accordingly, it would be desirable to utilize the shadow mask deposition process to form electronic circuits.
One problem with the current shadow mask deposition process is the need to engineer, manufacture and inventory a large number of shadow masks, each of which typically has one or more apertures of a unique size and/or location in the shadow mask. Thus, for example, if a plurality of shadow mask deposition events is required to produce the electronic elements of an electronic circuit having a repetitive pattern, a plurality of different shadow masks is typically required, since each deposition event will typically entail the deposition of material of a unique size and/or a unique location on the substrate.
It would, therefore, be desirable, to overcome the above problem and others by providing shadow masks that have configurable opening sizes whereupon the need to engineer, manufacture and inventory a unique shadow mask for each deposition event is avoided.